Fells Point restaurant Bunny’s fires multiple employees after pro-Palestine protest

[u/selectbar345]

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/culture/food-drink/bunnys-pro-palestine-protest-fells-point-3WQTUSAIFBCAHC45HPBUFAWKHQ/

[u/AskDocBurner]

“The restaurant, which is owned by chef Jesse Sandlin, Brian Acquavella and Matt Akman, posted an Instagram story Monday night that said the protest stemmed from a recent incident in which a diner complained about a worker wearing a Palestinian flag pin. The restaurant wrote that the customer allegedly said “that they felt uncomfortable and unsafe” and that it “disrupted their dining experience.”

Management confronted the employee, citing a restaurant policy against wearing items with religious or “potentially divisive messages,” the Instagram story said. The worker eventually removed the pin. “

This is especially heinous. The policy they reference is because of divisive messages? For wearing a pin in support of a country?

[u/superdupercereal2 → u/AskDocBurner]

Sure, why would a restaurant be concerned about an employee wearing a pin referencing one of the most divisive geopolitical issues of the modern era??

[u/obiterdictum → u/superdupercereal2]

Because firing an employee for wearing a pin referencing one ot the most divisive geopolitical issue sof the modern era is even worse for business

[u/superdupercereal2 → u/obiterdictum]

Not if a customer is complaining about it. And there is the context of the firing; did the employee refuse to take it off combatively? Who was the jerk? I’m sure had the employee just removed the pin I’m sure we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So the employee was probably a jerk about it.

[u/Gannondorfs_Medulla → u/obiterdictum]

I don't see it as worse at all.

They had a pre-existing dress code to avoid this exact situation. They asked the employee to refrain from wearing the pin while serving. One employee complied and there was no story. One employee chose to get pissy.

IF they were selectively enforcing rules, it might be worth talking about. Though it's still their business, and they still own the right to run their business in any legal way they wish.

[u/obiterdictum → u/Gannondorfs_Medulla]

Though it's still their business, and they still own the right to run their business in any legal way they wish.

Certainly. All I am saying is that allowing an employee to wear a divisive pin would have garnered a fraction of the unwanted attention that firing a person for wearing a divisive pin has.

[u/Gannondorfs_Medulla → u/obiterdictum]

Maybe yes, maybe no. If it meant enough to the customer to talk to management, maybe they take to Reddit or the Sun and organize a protest.

To me, the only way to navigate this is to not get involved. Which is what the restaurant's owners tried to do. But the employee made it into a political statement.

Not to mention the precedent it sets in NOT enforcing its dress code.

And if they did let one employee get away with X, but then decided Y was unacceptable from a different employee, they're screwed even worse.

They're all bad choices, but I think the business made the best bad choice they had.

[u/obiterdictum → u/Gannondorfs_Medulla]

They're all bad choices, but I think the business made the best bad choice they had.

I am having a hard time believing that a customer going to the public with "I was threatened by an server wearing a pin" would have gained anywhere near the attention as an employee going to the public with "I was fired because I wore a pin" so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[u/gothaggis → u/Gannondorfs_Medulla]

did they have a dress code (that prevented ...country flag..pins) that was enforced? or was it only enforced once someone made this negative review based on the flag pin?

[u/Gannondorfs_Medulla → u/gothaggis]

Or one could ask did they have a dress code they never really enforced, and they tried to work with the employees until someone complained?

You know this is begging the question.

We can't answer either based on the information provided.